The Better Futures Projects
Since 2018, SIL has launched a range of Better Future Projects designed to inspire and equip the next generation. Some initiatives continue today, while others have laid the groundwork for new efforts. Each project shares the same vision: to educate and empower young people so they can build stronger, brighter futures for themselves and their communities.
Kansas Teen Health Project (KTHP)
The Kansas Teen Health Project equips youth in rural and high-risk communities with the knowledge and skills to build healthy relationships and avoid risk behaviors. Through partnerships with Family and Consumer Sciences teachers and community organizations, trained facilitators deliver the evidence-based Love Notes® Sexual Risk Avoidance curriculum. As of spring 2025, the project has trained 8 teachers and reached 38 youth, with a major expansion planned for the 2025–26 school year to surpass its goal of 300 youth served. KTHP addresses all federally required Sexual Risk Avoidance Education topics, from goal setting and self-regulation to preventing dating violence, and uses a sustainable “teachers as facilitators” model so programming continues long after federal funding ends.
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Time of project: 2024 - On going
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Grant Funders:
Health and Human Services (HHS)
Administration on Children and Families (ACF)
Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB)
Kansas Personal Responsibility Education Program (K-PREP)
The Kansas Promoting Relationships and Empowering Parents (K-PREP) project trains Family and Consumer Science teachers and community partners to deliver the evidence-based Love Notes® curriculum to youth in rural and high-risk communities. As of March 30, 2025, K-PREP has trained 35 teachers and facilitators and reached 669 students toward its goal of 900. Early evaluation findings show positive shifts in students’ attitudes toward delaying sex until adulthood, healthier perspectives on parenting, and increased awareness of the harms of sexting. The program supports educators with training, stipends, and resources while using a sustainable “teachers as facilitators” model to expand access to healthy relationship education across Kansas. With a No-Cost Extension through September 2025, K-PREP is on track to meet its student reach goal through expanded partnerships, summer camps, and out-of-school programming.
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Time of project: 2021 - On going
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Grant Funders:
Health and Human Services (HHS)
Administration on Children and Families (ACF)
Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB)
Kansas Better Futures Continuation Project (KBFCP)
The Kansas Better Futures Community Project trains Family and Consumer Science teachers and community partner facilitators to deliver the evidence-based Love Notes® Sexual Risk Avoidance curriculum to youth in rural and high-risk communities. As of March 30, 2025, the project has trained 12 teachers and facilitators and reached 215 students toward its goal of 300. Students have shown early positive changes, including stronger attitudes toward delaying sex until adulthood, healthier perspectives on parenting, and increased awareness of the harms of sexting. The program uses a sustainability-focused “teachers as facilitators” model, provides stipends and resources to educators, and offers incentives to increase student and parent participation. With a No-Cost Extension through September 2025, KBFCP is on track to meet its student reach goal by expanding to community organizations, summer camps, and the Sedgwick County Juvenile Detention Facility.
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Time of project: 2022 - On going
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Grant funders:
Health and Human Services (HHS)
Administration on Children and Families (ACF)
Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB)
Oklahoma Better Futures Project (OKBFP)
From 2019 to 2023, the Oklahoma Better Futures Project trained 45 Family and Consumer Science teachers to deliver the evidence-based Love Notes® Sexual Risk Avoidance and Relationship Smarts PLUS curricula in Oklahoma classrooms. The project reached 1,960 middle and high school students—exceeding both the original goal of 1,800 and the revised COVID-adjusted goal of 1,200. Evaluation results showed significant gains, including increased commitment among high school students to delay sex until adulthood, greater understanding of the consequences of casual sex, and improved relationship skills such as honesty and communication. Designed for sustainability, many trained teachers continue to use the curricula, equipping rural Oklahoma youth with the knowledge, motivation, and skills to make healthy relationship and life choices.
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Time of project: 2019 -2023
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Grant Funders:
Health and Human Services (HHS)
Administration on Children and Families (ACF)
Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB)
Kansas Better Futures Expansion Project (KBFEP)
Through the Kansas Better Futures Project, The Social Innovation Laboratory trained 34 Kansas teachers to deliver the evidence-based Love Notes® Sexual Risk Avoidance curriculum in communities with high teen pregnancy rates. Across three cohorts from Spring 2019 to Spring 2020, the program reached 801 high school and middle school students. Youth participants showed measurable gains, including a 43.7% increase in sexual health knowledge, 38.4% stronger communication with trusted adults, and 84.4% choosing to remain or return to abstinence—helping equip young people with the skills and motivation to build healthy futures.
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Time of project: 2018 - 2020
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Grant funders:
Health and Human Services (HHS)
Administration on Children and Families (ACF)
Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB)
